Mollie Johnson ~ Queen of the Blondes

Mollie Johnson was born in Alabama, and migrated west due to the demand for working prostitutes. Indications are that she began working that trade in her early teens, around the age of 15 or 16 by some reports. However, definite information on her early life is unconfirmed.

Reportedly a widow when she first appeared in Deadwood shortly after the gold rush, Mollie was first mentioned in public documents in February, 1878 when she married Lew Spencer, an African American comedian who was performing at the Bella Union Theater. Though married, Mollie continued to work in her chosen profession, both as prostitute and madam. Spencer eventually left Deadwood and was later arrested in Denver, Colorado for shooting his other wife. Evidently he had been married to both a woman in Denver and Johnson. There are no indications that Mollie and Lew ever saw one another afterward.

She was known in Deadwood, South Dakota as the "Queen of the Blondes". Her nickname came from the fact that she had three blonde protégés who worked for her and also maintained their own boarding houses. Mollie and her girls Ida Clark, Ida Cheplan and Jennie Duchesneau, were often embroiled in personal and physical altercations among each other. Other than that, the competition for brothel owners in Deadwood was light, as there were plenty of men and very few girls to go around. For most of her time in Deadwood, Madam Dora DuFran was her main competition, but there is no indication the two madams did not get along.

Mollie was described as being a pretty woman and a very good businesswoman. She was also a known supporter of the Irish Famine Relief. She was also noted to be of a kind hearted, caring for the dead body of one of her girls before trying to save her possessions in the "Big Deadwood Fire" of 26 September 1879. She immediately opened another brothel, and suffered two more fires over the course of the years. 

She reportedly left Deadwood in January 1883 as business dropped off. Where she went or what happened to her following her departure is unknown.

Kitty Leroy

Kitty Leroy was born in Michigan in 1850. By the age of 10 she was performing as a dancer. As she got older, she began to work in dancehalls and saloons.

At age 15, she married her first husband: Legend has it he was the only man in town with the nerve to let her shoot apples off his head. But the marriage didn't last long: She was a wild young thing who wasn't ready to settle down. She moved west, settling for a time in Dallas, Texas where her dancing attracted a lot of attention in town. Kitty married a second time when she was 20 years old and eventually gave up dancing to become a skilled faro dealer who often dressed in men's clothing.

Kitty and husband #2 moved to California, where they planned to open their own saloon. But before reaching their destination, she left him for another man, who she married. But marriage #3 didn't last long either: It's said the couple had an argument where she attacked him and he refused to hit back because she was a woman. She changed into men's clothing and challenged him again, this time drawing her gun ... he didn't and she shot him. When he didn't die right away, she called for a preacher and the two were married. He passed away within a few days.

In 1876 Kitty moved to Deadwood, South Dakota (on the same wagon train as Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok) where she worked as a prostitute in the brothel managed by Mollie Johnson. She soon opened the Mint Gambling Saloon, where she met and married a German prospector. When his money ran out, they began to argue: She hit him over the head with a bottle one night and threw him out, ending marriage #4.

Kitty's saloon was very successful. Although she had gambling income, she continued to work as a prostitute, most of the time managing her own girls. She married husband #5 on 11 June 1877. Samuel R. Curley was a prospector and gambler who was extremely jealous of Kitty's numerous affairs, one of which was with husband #4. On the night of 7 December 1878, Curley shot and killed Kitty in the Lone Star Saloon, then shot himself.

The following day, the townspeople allegedly laid out the pair for viewing inside the saloon before they were buried together. A journalist would later say of the 28 year-old, that she "had five husbands, seven revolvers, a dozen Bowie knives, and was always went armed to the teeth."

She had a daughter somewhere along the line, as Deadwood newspapers of the time indicated that her estate was left to her daughter.